Toyota promises to make a comeback

The president of the Toyota Motor Corp has promised shareholders that the company will make a comeback, after a component supply crisis caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan affected production at its plants.

Akio Toyoda was addressing investors at the annual shareholders' meeting at the firm's headquarters.

The overall mood at the meeting was positive.

The meeting began with a moment of silence for those killed and missing in the twin disasters.

Factories in north eastern Japan were destroyed in the March disasters, leading to a shortage of auto parts.

Vehicle production for some models has not yet returned to normal levels, exerting a downward pressure onToyota sales.

The company was slowly beginning to recover from a two-year recall fiasco, especially by improving its performance in emerging markets.

Toyota may lose its spot as the world's top-selling carmaker to General Motors this year because of the disaster, although executives have played down the importance of that loss.